Live from the Lunchroom

The sky is gentle now after last night’s violent storms. The weather forecast looks questionable, though. If you want to be out and about today the morning looks better than later on. But, you never know.

*****

Last night I attended my husband’s Guitarpalooza Concert at the high school where he teaches. It was abruptly canceled two weeks ago when Spring storms knocked the power out. Undeterred, they somehow managed to get another date to rock out one last time, even though it meant they had to set up in the cafeteria.

I’m not going to do a concert rundown and I’m not going to do my usual plea for arts education. You already know how I feel. What I came away with last night was something bigger than that:

Everyone should get to experience the joy of watching someone they care about doing something that they love.

I sat in a school cafeteria with a decent crowd of other local folks who probably feel the same way. When you love someone you connect and believe with them in a way that may take you to places you might not ordinarily go. (A room full of adolescents with amplifiers, for instance.) Sure, it makes them feel wonderful to look and see that you are supporting them. But, if you are very lucky, it does something to you.

It changes you. You realize that you are there, not just for your kid or friend or significant other, but for everyone engaged in whatever special thing it is. And you care about the outcome and whatever may come next. You share in their joy.

We all become better humans when we have that experience. It’s not just about “my kid” or “my neighborhood” or “what I am entitled to.” We realize we can want good things for an area larger than our own personal sphere.

But we have to want to do that. We have to be open to doing that. We have to be open to sharing the joy of others.

I made my way home through driving rain last night with one thought in my mind: no one should hold elected office if they don’t understand and experience this. Everyone who is involved in setting budgets and making laws should operate with this as their guiding principle.

So much of what is going on in Washington right now shows a complete absence of this. It is soulless and selfish. It eggs on the public to exercise their worst selves: you don't have to care and you don’t have to share.

If we know how it feels to watch someone we care about do something that they love then we should want that for everyone. We should understand the deep value of that to the quality of life and we should foster it and protect it.

Imagine how much could be accomplished with that as a guiding principle. In fact, it has accomplished much in the past. It can be done again.

But we have to want to do that. We have to be open to doing that. We have to be open to sharing the joy of others.

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